Means for feeding sheets of paper



' s. PAYNE AND E. STOTT. MEANS FOR FEEDING SHEETS OF PAPER. APPLICATION FILED APR. 4. I92l.

Patented Sept. 20, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

s. PAYNE AND E. STOTT. MEANS FOR FEEDING SHEETS OF PAPER.

APPLlCATl0N FILED APR. 4, 1921.

PatentedSpt. 20, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEEI 2.

3 8. a amd/ M/M 'F S. PAYNE 'AND E. STOTT. MEANS FOR FEEDING SHEETS OF PAPER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 4, 1921.

Patntedsept. 20, 1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

S. PAYNE AND E. STOTT. v MEANS FOR FEEDING SHEETS OF PAPER.

' 3 APPLICATION man mm. 1921. 7 "PatentedSept. 20,1921.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

l o Thelobjectwof.this inventionis to provide 1 ing or othersirnilar machines.

or a series of'ztapes or the like which forms,

UNITED. STATES oretc a:

SYDNEY PAYNE AND ELKAN AH STOTT, OFOTLEY, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS TO- PAYNE &

YyLIMITED, annwrnmam DAWSON & SONS (OTLEY) LIIIIIIEDyOF OTLEY, YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND.

JMIIEAIN'STFOIRI FEEDTNG SHEETSOEsPAPER. r

England, havednventedfnew, and useful Im proved Means for Feeding Sheets of Paper,' of which the following is a specificatlon.

improved. means for feeding sheetsof paper onekata time .froma pile, and is especially suitable: 013 use in] conjunction with print:

According :tov this invention we provide a pair Ofielldlt-BSS chains or the equivalent furnishedyvith one or more pairs of crossbar's, between.,which is stretched flexible material with the cross-j bars a tray which can be moved across a table adapted to support a pile of sheets of paper; the top sheet of the pile to'be fed is separated by any suitable means, and is the raised upward vertically orgslightlybackward or, forward or the rest of th'e'pile is'dropped away from the sheet until; a suitable distance is left between the uppermost sheet and the rest of the pile. When the trayhas moved sufliciently far wider the sheet, the mechanism which has. held, the sheet in its altered, position is released so that the paper falls upon the tray and ,is carried forward by it to the desired position when itis controlled byany other suitable means. j I

' Preferably we mount on two arms which canvbe rocked about an axis at right angles to the-direction ofpjmovement of the tray oversthetable a sucker bar so that when he armsare down thebar can suck up that edge of the topsheet of the pile which lies toward the leading, edgeof thetray as itadvances toward the pile. When the armsro ck on their axisflwith the edge of the sheet adheringto the bar -the sheet is bent up so that the tray can enter between it and the Specification of Letters Patent. Patentediseph 20 1921 I Applieationfiled April 1921. Serial-No. 458,458.

of the paper is first bent upbyvthe rotation"; oftheubarin its armswbeforethe sheet is bent by the rocking of the arms abo'ut their axis.

Inv someocaseslwe :may providev a,- sucker bar with grippers to holdthe. edge. ofthe sheet of paper positively to the sucker bar.

In a, modification the endless chains. or

their equivalent are adapted Q to travel. around,the,p1le,of sheetsiso that thetray, carried by the said chains passes ingits travel over and vunderthe pil, of sheets. Thetop sheet is stripped from the pile in the same manner. as previously j-described and when released. falls uponthe tray when itis on the upper portion of the endless. chains The sheet is then carriedfforward and is fed between, two rotating rollers mounted adjacent to a roller over which; the

chains and tray pass, the sheet being vcompelled if necessary to followits original or any suitable pathby means of fingers or the like, while th chainsand {tray descend and travel around th'epile, and receiveanother sheet. Y v V Alternativelythe sheet may be paid ofi the tray onto another set of movingtrays, tapes or other conveying means.- 7

i In the; accompanying, drawings which} illustrate our invention Figureil is aside elevation.

Fig. 2-is a side elevationof a modification and Fig. 3 is an end ,elevation thereof;

I Figs. A, 5 and- 6' are detail jviews showing the operationlof the mechanism,

- Referring moreparticularly to Figs. 1, 4,

5 and 6, 1 is a pile of sheets which maybe retained in position by side guides, (not shown), 2 is a tubular, suction bar coupled to a fiexiblegsuction tube (not shown) and fitted with nozzles 3 the suction bar is carried by a pair of rocking arms .4, pivoted to levers 5 by means of studs 6. The levers 5 are pivoted to frame sides 7, by means of studs 8 and are fitted with bowls and studs 9 and actuated by cams 10 mounted on a shaft 11 driven by any suitable means.

The suction bar 2 is connected by rods 12 to levers 13 mounted on a shaft 14 carried by the frame sides 7, and are fittediwith bowls and studs 15,.and actuated by cams 16, mounted o the shaft 11.

17 are grippers mounted on a shaft 18 and actuated by an arm 19, connecting rod 20, cam lever 21, fitted with bowl and stud 22, and operated by'a cam 23 mounted on the shaft 11.

It will be seen that each cam 10, 16 and 23 imparts movement in one directio only,

an'o'pen space is provided to allow time for a sheet to be raised from the pile as will be.

the return movement of the parts being obtained in any convenient manner as by springs (notshown).

24 are rollers carried by the frame sides 7; these are fitted with sprocket wheels 25. On the sprocket wheels two endless chains 26v are mounted and driven ata suitable con- .tinuousor intermittent speed by any con-. venientimeans.

The endless chains 26 carry cross bars 27' to which arefixed flexible tapes 28 of steel or other suitable flexible materiahforming platforms or trays. Between each platform 29are stops and 30 is a in Fig. 5. 1 As "the shaft 11 continues to rota'te'the levers 5 aretilted by the cams 10 so that the bent'up edge of the sheet is lifted 'up as shown in Fig. 6. At the same time the grippers 17 are rocked by the cam 23 and hold the. sheet against the nozzles 3.

When the edge of the sheet is thus bent up and lifteda'cross bar 27, passing beneath the lifted edge of the sheet, strips this latter from the pile of sheets 1; the grippers 17 are moved by the cam 23 to release the sheet, which rests upon the platform tapes 28.- In Fig.1 a sheet indicated by a thick black line is shown nearly stripped from the pile.

"The sheet is now'carried forward on thev tapes 28 untiliit reaches the stops 29 which Stop the sheet so that it falls through an open space between the cross bars 27 on to the table- 30. I

Referring now to the modification shown inFigs. 2 and '3, the mechanism for stripping a sheet'from the pile is the same as that just described. .The endless chains 26 in this case pass around the pile of .sheets- 1, and

eachs'heet is deposited on to platform tapes 7 28 when these, are on the upper portion of the endless chains 26. The sheet is then carried forward and is fed between rollers 31 driven by a chain 32 passing over sprocket I wheels 25.- 33 are guidesor fingers which direct the :sheet between the rollers 31. The sheet may be paid oil to any other suitable sheet carrying mechanism.

What we claim is 1. In means for feeding sheets of paper one at a time from a pile, the combination ,of a pair of endless chains, means for im parting motion to said chains, a flexible tray carried by said chains and adapted topass over said pile of sheets, and means for raising the leading edge of the top sheet of the pile whereby the tray is enabled to come. between the top sheet and the pile.

2, In meansfor feeding s eets of paper one at a time froma pile, the combination of a pair of endless chains, means for impart-V 1 ing motion to said chains, a flexible trayca'rried by said chains and adapted to" pass over said pile of sheets, means for bending and means for raising theleading edge of the. top sheet of the pile whereby the tray is enabled to come between the top sheet and the pile. I

3. In means for feeding sheets of paper one at a time from a pile, the'combination of a pair of endless chains, means for imparting motion tosaid chains, a flexible tray carried by said chains and adapted to pass over said pile of sheets, a suction bar, and means whereby the leading edge of the top sheet of the pile is :raised by said suction bar, whereby the tray is enabled to come between the top sheet and the pile. I I

4. In means for'feeding sheets of paper one at a time. from a pile, the combination of a pair of endless chains, means for imparting motion to said chains, a flexible tray carried by said chains and adapted to pass over said pile of sheets, a suction bar and whereby the leading edge ofthe top. sheet is first bent and subsequently raised by said suction bar, gripping devices,'and means for causing said gripping devices temporarily to hold the top sheet against the suctionbar whereby the tray is enabled tocome between I the top sheet and the pile.

6. In means for feed ng sheets of paper one at a time from a pile, 'thecombination of a pair of endless chains, means for imparting motion to said chains, a flexible tray carried by said chains and adapted to pass aroundsaid pile of sheets, and means for raising the leading edge'of the top sheet of the'pile whereby the tray. is enabled to come between the top sheet and the pile. a k

7 In means for feeding sheets of paper one at a time from a pile, the combination of a pair of endless chains, means for impartadapted to receive the sheet from the flexible ing motion to said chains, a flexible tray cartray and means for rotating the rollers.

ried by said chains and adapted to pass In testimony that We claim the foregoing 10 around said pile of sheets, means for raisas our invention We have signed our names ing the leading edge of the top sheet of the this 23rd day of March, 1921. a

pile whereby the tray is enabled to come be- SYDNEY PAYNE. tween the top sheet and the pile, rollers v ELKANAH STOTT. 

